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Police sketch
City Beat
Police seek potential West Valley kidnapper
FBI profiler called in to assist police
By Chantal Lamers
Police in Santa Clara to Santa Cruz counties are searching for a white male they believe is trying to kidnap boys. San Jose police believe the same suspect attempted at least two abductions within nine days.
The man, described as 38 to 40 years old, about 6 feet tall, 180 to 200 pounds, with an average build, tan face, fu manchu mustache, short brown hair and missing top and bottom teeth, may go by the first name Mel. The suspect may be driving a new model, full-sized white Dodge truck with a white camper shell, police said.
San Jose police Sgt. Steve Dixon said that in potential kidnapping cases, police call in a trained FBI profiler. Dixon said police are searching databases to see if the suspect's profile matches a registered sex offender in the area. Police believe the subject probably lives in Northern California. Dixon said that he is confident police will track down the suspect soon.
According to police, the latest attempt was on April 25. The suspect approached a 12-year-old boy at the Loma Prieta Joint Union School District campus in Los Gatos at 2:30 p.m. The suspect told the boy his mother was unable to pick him up from school, and repeated the story when the school's athletic director intervened.
Police said the athletic director told the suspect to return after practice. The suspect agreed and left. The boy told the director he didn't know the suspect. San Jose police said that "It was clear the suspect had intended to take the boy from the school."
Police believe the same man attempted to lure a child away from a West San Jose home on April 14. At 3:30 p.m., Craig Evans was sitting in his home office that overlooks his front yard. His two sons, 6 and 12, were playing catch with an 11-year-old neighbor boy.
Evans heard a strange voice coming from the yard and went outside, where he found the suspect playing catch with the 11-year-old. "He was hovering uncomfortably close to my neighbor's son," Evans said.
Evans said his oldest son felt uneasy around the stranger, who was dressed in a black "Members Only" coat, dark sunglasses and a new 49ers cap. After hesitating for a while, the suspect told Evans his name was Mel. When Evans asked him where he lived, the suspect pointed to the sky.
The suspect walked off the property, looking back several times before he turned the corner. Evans didn't see him enter a vehicle. He called police, who searched the area but were unable to locate the suspect.
Police thought the suspect made a third attempt on May 7. But now police say evidence and statements made by a 14-year-old San Jose boy, who reported he was sexually assaulted, didn't add up.
The boy had gone to take out the garbage, and when he didn't return promptly his father went looking for him.When his father found him a short time later, the boy claimed he had been sexually assaulted. Police now believe the boy fabricated the story.
Police are asking anyone with information on the man to contact SJPD Detective Mike Roush at 408.277.4161. Anyone who wishes to remain anonymous may contact Crime Stoppers at 408.947.7867.
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
